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IBL

U2.0

/\3 UC-NRLP

'iiutonmiiii

Wilt thou not ope thy heart to know

What rainbows teach, and sunsets show?

Verdict which accumulates

From lengthening scroll of human fates,

Voice of earth to earth returned,

Prayers of saints that inly burned,—

Saying, What is excellent,

As God lives, is permanent;

Hearts are dust, Hearts* loves remain;

Heart's love will meet tbee again.

House and tenant go to ground,
Lost in God, in Godhead found.

K. W. BMBRSON.

/(j4-»'-*f^ fi< . ^ c '*^f<Jkr *„0 %

FROM THE UPANTSHADS

CHARLBS JOHNSTON

Porlbmi Mibi
THOMAS 9t aJOSMDt.

I899

Thomas 'B. (Mother

1897

CONTENTS

PAGK
FOREWORD ix

TO G. W. RUSSELL . . . xvti

FROM THE UPANISHADS:

I
IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH

[Katba Upamsbad] 5

A VEDIC MASTER

[Prasbna Upamsbad] 29

THAT THOU ART

\Cbbandogya Upamsbad, VI\ 45

M31890

FOREWORD

When the scanty shores are foil
With Thought's perilous, whirling pool ;
When frail Nature can no more,
Then the Spirit strikes the hour:
My servant Death, with solving rite,
Pours finite into infinite.

R. W. BMKRSON.

FOREWORD.

It is admitted, by common
consent, that the works of
Emerson stand at the head
of American literature. The cause of
their pre-eminence, it might well be
added, is the rebirth, in them, of the
thoughts and ideals of the most
ancient Upanishads. Emerson him-
self was perfectly aware of this affinity ;
he found no fitter illustration of his
understanding of immortality than
the teaching of Death, with which
I have begun this volume. His words
may well be repeated :

" Within every man's thought is a
higher thought ; within the character
he exhibits today, a higher character.
The youth puts off the illusions of the
child ; the man puts off the ignorance
and tumultuous passions of youth;
proceeding thence, puts off the ego-
tism of manhood, and becomes at
last a public and universal soul. He
is rising to greater heights, but also
rising to realities ; the other relations

Foreword and circumstances dying out, he en-
tering deeper into God, God into him,
until the last garment of egotism falls,
and he is with God; shares the will
and immensity of the First Cause. It
is curious to find the selfsame feeling,
that it is not immortality but eternity,
not duration but a state of abandon-
ment to the Highest, and so the shar-
ing of His perfection, appearing in the
farthest east and west. The human
mind takes no account of geography,
language, or legends, but in all utters
the same instinct Yama, the lord of
Death, promised Nachiketas, the son
of Gautama, to grant him three boons
at his own choice" — and then fol-
lows the teaching, as I have given it

The central thought, and almost
the very words of the second Upan-
ishad here translated, concerning the
worlds, and their putting forth by the
Divine, are faithfully imaged in an-
other of Emerson's essays :

"But when, following the invisible
steps of thought, we come to enquire,
whence is matter? and whereto?
many truths arise out of the recesses
of consciousness. We learn that the
highest is present to the soul of man ;

that the dread universal essence, which Ftrmord
is not wisdom, or love, or beauty, or
power, but all in one, and each en-
tirely, is that for which all things exist,
and that by which they are; that
spirit creates; that behind nature,
throughout nature, spirit is present
As a plant upon the earth, so a man
rests upon the bosom of God; he is
nourished by unfailing fountains, and
draws, at his need, inexhaustible
power."

To cite all the passages in which
Emerson bears testimony to the truth
contained in the third passage I have
rendered: that the soul of man is one
with the immemorial Soul that wove
the worlds, would be, to repeat the
greater part of what he has written ; for
this, more than anything else, is the
heart of his message. One passage,
out of many, will be enough :

"The soul gives itself, alone orig-
inal and pure, to the Lonely, Original
and Pure, who, on that condition,
gladly inhabits, leads, and speaks
through it. Then it is glad, young,
and nimble. Behold, it saith, I am
born into the great, the universal mind.
I, the imperfect, adore my own per-

Foreword feet. I am somehow recipient of the
great soul, and thereby I do overlook
the sun and the stars, and feel them to
be the fair, accidents and effects which
change and pass. More and more the
surges of everlasting nature enter into
me, and I become public and human
in my regards and actions. So I come
•to live in thoughts, and act with ener-
gies, which are immortal."

Let me add, to these three, one
more passage, which shows the same
primeval power, that gave birth to
the imagery of ancient wisdom, once
more actively creative; a passage,
more eloquent, perhaps, than all else
that Emerson has written :

"There is no chance, and no anar-
chy, in the universe. All is system and
gradation. Every god is there, sitting
in his sphere. The young mortal
enters the hall of the firmament;
there, he is alone with them alone;
they pouring on him benedictions and
gifts, and beckoning him up to their
thrones. On the instant, and inces-
santly, fall snow-storms of illusions.
He fancies himself in a vast crowd
which sways this way and that, and
whose movements and doings he

xii

must obey; he fancies himself poor, Forttoord
orphaned, insignificant. The mad
crowd drives hither and thither, now
furiously commanding this thing to
be done, now that. What is he that
he should resist their will, and think
or act for himself? Every moment
new changes and new showers of de-
ceptions to baffle and distract him.
And when by and by, for an instant,
the air dears, and the cloud lifts a
little, there are the gods still sitting
around him on their thrones; they
alone, with him alone."

C. J.

TO G. W. RUSSELL

he brown and yellow of
autumn are touching the
chestnut-leaves again for
the tenth time since those early days
when we first began to seek the small
old path the seers know.

On such a day as this, rejoicing in
the sunlight, we lay on our backs in
the grass, and, looking up into the
blue, tried to think ourselves into that
new world which we had suddenly
discovered ourselves to inhabit. For
we had caught the word, handed down
with silent laughter through the ages,
that we ourselves are the inventors of
the game of life, the kings of this
most excellent universe : that there is
no sorrow, but fancy weaves it ; that
we need not even knock to be admit-
ted, for we already are, and always
were, though we had forgotten it,
within the doors of life.

That young enthusiasm and hourly
joy of living was one of old destiny's
gracious presents, a brightness to

f* rei&ember when storms gathered

G. W. Russell roun< | ^ ag they did many a time in
the years since: there was a gaiety
and lightness in the air then, a delight
of new discovery, that I do not think
we shall find again ; yet I know, and
you also know, what excellent strength
we have gained instead. For, carrying
our high hopes with us, all these years,
as one side of life after another was
turned to us, as we had to pass through
rough ways as well as smooth, to
wrestle with the stubborn tendencies
of things, full-breasted and strenuous,
we have fought and worked into our-
selves an intimate knowledge of what
we then only divined, we have realized
much that then loomed dim and
ghostly before us, we have learned to
abide confidently by spiritual law.

To gain our experience side by side
would have been very pleasant, had
fate so willed it ; but fate willed quite
otherwise. Almost at the outset,
destiny carried me, vagrant, to the
distant rivers of the east, whose
waters mirror old towered shrines
among the palm-trees, while the boat
man's song floats echo-like across; or
where the breakers of the lonely,

xv«

limitless ocean cast forth strange To

shells upon the sand; or through O. W. Ruueil

the grey alder-forests stretching away

desolate to the frozen seas ; or again,

among rugged mountains, shaggy with

pine-forests, where rainbow-sparkles

carpet the snow.

And you, whom outward fate has
held stationary, travelled perhaps
further after all; finding your way
homeward to the strange world the
seers tell of, the world at the back of
the heavens ; and sending to us your
" Songs by the Way."

It was an ambition of mine, in
those old days, to translate, from the
Indian books of Wisdom, the story of
the Sacrificer's son who was sent by
his father to the house of Death.
This story has always seemed to me
a teaching of admirable worth, carry-
ing with it the most precious gift of
all, a sense of the high mysteriousness
and vast hidden treasure of life, which
makes us seekers for ever, always
finding, yet always knowing that there
is still more to find; so that every day
becomes a thing of limitless promise
and wonder, only revealing itself as
containing a new wonder within. For

To what teaching could bring a more

G. W. Russell WO nderful sense of the largeness and
hidden riches of being than this : that
our sincerest friend is the once-dreaded
king of terrors; that death teaches
us what no other can — the lesson of
the full and present eternity of life?
We need not wait till our years are
closed for his teaching: that wisdom
of his, like every other treasure of
life, is all-present in every moment, in
full abundance, here and now. It is
the teaching of Death that, to gain
the better, we must lose the dearer;
to gain the greater, we must lose the
less; to win the abundant world of
reality, we must give up the world of
fancy and folly and fear which we
have so long held dear : we have been
learning it all these years since we
began; learning also Death's grim
jest, that there is no sacrifice possible
for us at all, for while we were
painfully renouncing the dearer, his
splendid generosity had already given
us the better — new worlds instead of
old.

Well, the ten years are passed, and
my ambition is fulfilled; I hand you
my rendering of Death's lesson, and

two more teachings from t£e same To

old wise books. G - w - Russdl

I have found them wist, beyond all
others; and, beyond all others, filled
with that very light which makes all
things new; the light discovered first
within, in the secret place of the
heart, and which brimming over there
fills the whole of life, lightening every
dark and clouded way. That glowing
heart within us, we are beginning to
guess, is the heart of all things, the
everlasting foundation of the world;
and because speech is given therein
to that teaching of oneness, of our
hearts and the heart eternal as eter-
nally one, I have translated the last
of these three passages from the
books of Wisdom.

You will find in them, besides high
intuition, a quaint and delightful
flavour, a charm of childlike simplic-
ity ; yet of a child who is older than
all age, a child of the eternal and
infinite, whose simplicity is better
than the wisdom of the wise.

There is no answer in words to
the question: What is in the great
Beyond? nor can there be; yet I
think we know already that, in the

To nameless mystery of the real, it will

G. W. Russell be altogether well with us— now and

after. This strong reconciliation with

the real is, very likely, the best fruit

of our ten years' learning.

CHARLES JOHNSTON.

BallyHlbeg,
October 15, 1895.

5*om i#e 0?ani*$aft*

IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH

The First Part

jf ajashravasa, verily, seeking
favour, made a sacrifice of
all he possessed. He had
a son, also, by name Nachiketas.
Him, though still a child, faith en-
tered, while the gifts were being led
up.

He meditated :

They have drunk water, eaten grass,
given up their milk, artd lost their
strength. Joyless worlds, in truth,
he gains, who offers these.

He addressed his father:

To whom, then, wilt thou give me ?
said he.

Twice and thrice he asked him.

To Death I give thee, said he.

Nachikitas pondtrs :

I go the first of many; I go in the
midst of many. What is Death's
work that he will work on me to-day ?

In the Look, as those that have
House bef ore> behold so are those that si
Death come ** ter « As corn a mortal ripens, |
as com he is born again.

Nacbiketas comes to tbe House of
T>eatb; bespeaks:

Like the Lord of Fire, a pure guest
comes to the house. They offer him
this greeting. Bring water, O Death,
Son of the Sun I

Hope and expectation, friendship,
kind words, just and holy deeds, sods
and cattle, this destroys, for the fool-
ish man in whose house a pure guest
dwells without food.

After tbree days Death comas. Death
speaks:

As thou hast dwelt three nights
in my house, without food, thou, a
pure guest and honourable — - honour
to thee, pure one, welfare to me—
against this choose thou three wishes.

Nacbiketas speaks :

That the descendant of Gotama
may be at peace, well-minded, and
with sorrow gone, towards me,
Death ; that he may speak kindly to
me when sent forth by thee; this, of
the three, as my first wish I choose.

*Deatb speaks:

As before will the son of Aruna, '• '*« .
Uddalaka's son, be kind to thee, sent House
forth by me; by night will he sleep /L^*
well, with sorrow gone, seeing thee
freed from the mouth of Death.
Nacbikeias speaks ;
In the heaven-world there is no
fear at all; nor art thou there, nor
does he fear from old age. Crossing
over both hunger and thirst, and
going beyond sorrow, he exults in the
heaven-world.

The heavenly fire thou knowest,
Death, tell it to me, for I am faithful.
The heaven-worlds enjoy deathless-
ness; this, as my second wish, I
choose.

Death speaks :

To thee I tell it; learn then from
me, Nachiketas, finding the heavenly
fire. Know thou also the obtaining
of unending worlds, the resting-place,
for this is hidden in secret.

He told him then that fire, the
beginning of the worlds, and the
bricks of the altar, and how many
and how they are. And he again
spoke it back to him as it was
told; and Death, well-pleased, again
addressed him.

Utbt This is thy heavenly fire, O

House Nadiiketas, which thou hast chosen

Death ** tnv secon d wish. This fire of

thine shall they proclaim. Choose

now, Nachiketas, thy third wish.

Nacbiketas speaks :

This doubt that there is of a man
that has gone forth : " He exists," say
some; and "He exists not," others
say: a knowledge of this, taught by
thee, this of my wishes is the third
wish.

Death speaks:

Even by the gods of old it was
doubted about this ; not easily know-
able, and subtle is this law. Choose,
Nachiketas, another wish; hold me
not to it, but spare me this.

Nacbiketas speaks :

Even by the gods, thou sayest, it
was doubted about this; and not
easily knowable is it, O Death. An-
other teacher of it cannot be found
like thee. No other wish is equal to
this.

Death speaks :

Choose sons and grandsons of
a hundred years, and much cattle,
and elephants and gold and horses.
Choose the great abode of the earth,

and for thyself live as many autumns '» '*<
as thou wilt. *£**

If thou thinkest this an equal wish, D44Ub
choose wealth and length of days.
Be thou mighty in the world, O
Nachiketas; I make thee an enjoyer
of thy desires.

Whatsoever desires are difficult in
the mortal world, ask all desires
according to thy will.

These beauties, with their chariots
and lutes — not such as these are to
be won by men — be waited on by
them, my gifts. Ask me not of death,
Nachiketas.

Nachiketas speaks :

To-morrow these fleeting things
wear out the vigour of a mortal's
powers. Even the whole of life is
short; thine are chariots and dance
and song.

Not by wealth can a man be satis-
fied. Shall we choose wealth if we
have seen thee ? Shall we desire life
while thou art master? But the wish
I choose is truly that.

Coming near to the unfading im-
mortals, a fading mortal here below,
and understanding, thinking on the

In the sweets of beauty and pleasure, who
Houu would rejoice in length of days?

Dtatb ^k ***** the y douDt about, O
Death, what is in the great Beyond,
tell me of that. This wish that draws
near to the mystery, Nachiketas
chooses no other wish than that.

Death speaks:

The better is one thing, the dearer
is another thing; these two bind a
man in opposite ways. Of these
two, it is well for him who takes the
better; he fails of his object, who
chooses the dearer.

The better and the dearer approach
a man; going round them, the sage
discerns between them. The sage
chooses the better rather than the
dearer; the fool chooses the dearer,
through lust of possession.

Thou indeed, pondering on dear and
dearly-loved desires, O Nachiketas,
hast passed them by. Not this way
of wealth hast thou chosen, in which
many men sink.

Far apart are these two ways, un-
wisdom and what is known as wisdom.
I esteem Nachiketas as one seeking
wisdom, nor do manifold desires allure
thee.

Others, turning about in unwisdom, '* ***
tf-wise and thinking they are learned, *****
3ls, stagger, lagging in the way, like ^^
e blind led by the blind.
The great Beyond gleams not for
s child, led away by the delusion of
ssessions. "This is the world,
sre is no other," he thinks, and
falls again and again under my
minion.

That is not to be gained even for a
aring by many, and hearing it many
derstand it not. Wonderful is the
taker of it, blessed the receiver;
inderful is the knower of it, taught
the blessed.

Not by the lower man is this, when
clared, to be known even by much
klitation. There is no way to it
less told by the other, very subtle
it, nor can it be debated by formal
pa

The understanding of this cannot be
ined by debate; but it is declared by
b other, dearest, for a right under-
inding. Thou hast obtained it, for
>u art steadfast in the truth; may a
estkmer like thee, Nachiketas, come
us.
" I know that what they call treasure

I* tbt is unenduring; and by unlasting thtop
l ^ m * what is lasting cannot be obtaind.
Therefore the Nachiketas fire w*
kindled by me, and for these unendur-j
ing things I have gained that which
endures."

Thus saying, and having bcheW
the obtaining of longings, the resting-
place of the world, the endlessness d
desire, the shore where there is «
fear, greatly praised, and the wide-song
resting-place, thou, Ntfchiketas, win
in thy firmness, hast passed them bp

But that which is hard to see, whkh
has entered the secret place, and ■
hidden in secret, the mystery, tin
ancient; understanding that bright
one by the path of union with A*
inner self, the wise man leaves exult*
tion and sorrow behind.

A mortal, hearing this and undfl
standing it, drawing forth that suW
righteous one from all things else, a*
obtaining it, rejoices, having gain*
good cause for rejoicing; and tfe
door to it is wide open, I thhl
Nachiketas.

Nacbikitas sptaks :

What thou seest to be neither tb
law nor lawlessness, neither what 1

commanded nor what it forbidden; '*'**
neither what has been nor what shall Houu
be, tell me that. °t m

D**tb

Dtatb speaks:

That resting-place which all the
Vedas proclaim, and all austerities
declare ; seeking for which they enter
the service of the Eternal, that resting-
place I briefly tell to thee.

It is the unchanging Eternal, it
is the unchanging supreme; having
understood that unchanging one,
irhatsoever a man wishes, that he
Sains. It is the excellent foundation,
the supreme foundation; knowing
that foundation, a man is mighty in
;he eternal world.

The knower is never born nor dies,
lor is it from anywhere, nor did it
lecome anything. Unborn, eternal,
mmemorial, this ancient is not slain
rhen the body is slain.

If the slayer thinks to slay it, if the
■am thinks it is slam, neither of them
mderstand ; this slays not nor is slain.

Smaller than small, greater than
preat, this Self is hidden in the heart
if man. He who has ceased from
lesire, and passed sorrow by, through

/* tu the favour of that ordainer beholds
H0U$e the greatness of the Self.
j£^ Though seated, it travels far;
though at rest, it goes everywhere;
who but me is worthy to know this
bright one who is joy without
rejoicing?

Understanding this great lord the
Self, bodiless in bodies, stable among
unstable, the wise man cannot grieve.
This Self is not to be gained by
speaking of it, nor by ingenuity,
nor by much hearing. Whom this
chooses, by him it is gained, and the
Self chooses his form as its own.

He who has ceased not from evil,
who is not at peace, who stands not
firm whose emotions are not at rest,
cannot obtain it by knowledge.

Priest and Warrior are its food, its
anointing is death ; who knows truly
where it is ?

T>$atb speaks:

The knowers of the Eternal, those
of the five fires, and of the triple fixe
of Nachiketas, tell of the shadow and
the fire — the soul and the spirit—
entering into the cave and drinking
their reward in the world of good
works, on the higher path.

This is the bridge of the sacrificers, /* **«
the undying Eternal, the supreme, the Houu
fearless, the harbour of those who °p €atb
would cross over — may we master
the fire of Nachiketas.

Know that the Self is the lord of
the chariot, the body verily is the
chariot; know that the soul is the
charioteer, and emotion the reins.

They say that the bodily powers
are the horses, and that the external
world is their field. When the Self,
the bodily powers and emotion are
joined together, this is the right
en j oyer; thus say the wise.

But for the unwise, with emotion
ever unrestrained, his bodily powers
run away with him, like the unruly
horse*, of the charioteer.

For him who is wise, with emotion
ever restrained, his bodily powers do
not run away with him, like the well-
ruled horses of the charioteer.

But he who is unwise, restrains not
emotion, and is ever impure, gains
not that resting-place, but returns to
the world of birth and death.

He who is wise, restrains emotion,
and is ever pure, gains that resting-
place from which he is not born again.

In tbt the favour of that ordainer beholds

H™" the greatness of the Self.

Desib Though seated, it travels far;
though at rest, it goes everywhere;
who but me is worthy to know this
bright one who is joy without
rejoicing ?

He who has ceased not from evil
who is not at peace, who stands not
firm whose emotions are not at rest,
cannot obtain it by knowledge.

Priest and Warrior are its food, its
anointing is death ; who knows truly
where it is ?
T>tatb speaks:
The knowers of the Eternal, those
of the five fires, and of the triple fetj
of Nachiketas, tell of the shadow aw
the fire — the soul and the spirit-
entering into the cave and drinkat
their reward in the World of good
works, on the higher path.

This is the bridge of the sacrificers, /* ***
the undying Eternal, the supreme, the Hous€
fearless, the harbour of those who } >€atb
would cross over — may we master
the fire of Nachiketas.

Know that the Self is the lord of

the chariot, the body verily is the

chariot; know that the soul is the

charioteer, and emotion the reins.

They say that the bodily powers

. are the horses, and that the external
world is their field. When the Self,
the bodily powers and emotion are
joined together, this is the right

f en j oyer; thus say the wise.

, But for the unwise, with emotion
ever unrestrained, his bodily powers
run away with him, like the unruly
horses of the charioteer.

'. For him who is wise, with emotion
tver restrained, his bodily powers do
lot run away with him, like the well-
tiled horses of the charioteer.

But he who is unwise, restrains not
^motion, and is ever impure, gains
tot that resting-place, but returns to
he world of birth and death.

He who is wise, restrains emotion,
nd is ever pure, gains that resting-

1 lace from which he is not born again.

/« tbe He whose charioteer is wisdom,

House ^q grasps the reins — emotion—

°^ tatb firmly, he indeed gains the end of the

path, the supreme resting-place of the

emanating Power.

The impulses are higher than the
bodily powers ; emotion is higher than
the impulses; soul is higher than
emotion ; higher than soul is the Self,
the great one.

Higher than this great one is the
unmanifest; higher than the unmani
fest is spirit. Than spirit nothing is
higher, for it is the goal, and the
supreme way.

This is the hidden Self; in all
beings it shines not forth; but is
perceived by the piercing subtle soul
of the subtle-sighted.

Let the wise hold formative voice
and emotion; let him hold them in
the Self which is wisdom; let him
hold this wisdom in the Self which is
great; and this let him hold in the
Self which is peace.

Rise up! awake! and, having ob-
tained your wishes, understand them.

The sages say this path is hard,
difficult to tread as the keen edge of
a razor.

He is released from the mouth of '« tbt
Death, having gained the lasting thing H ° uu
which is above the great, which has % eatb
neither sound nor touch nor form nor
change nor taste nor smell, but is
eternal, beginningless, endless.

This is the immemorial teaching
of Nachiketas, declared by Death.
Speaking it and hearing it the sage is
mighty in the eternal world. Whoso-
ever, being pure, shall cause this
supreme secret to be heard, in the
assembly of those who seek the
Eternal, or at the time of the union
with those who have gone forth, he *
indeed builds for endlessness, he
builds for endlessness.

IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH

The Second Part

[/he Self-Being pierced the
openings outward; hence
one looks outward, not
within himself. A wise man looked
towards the Self with reverted sight,
seeking deathlessness.

Children seek after outward desires ;
they come to the net of widespread
death. But the wise, beholding death-
lessness, seek not for the enduring
among unenduring things.

By that which perceives form, taste,
smell, sounds, and embraces ; by this
verily he discerns, for what else is
there? This is that.

The wise man, thinking that that
by which he perceives both waking
and dreaming life, is the great, the
lord, the Self, grieves not.

He who perceives the living Self,
the honey-eater, close at hand, the
lord of what has been and what shall
be, he is no longer seeking for refuge.
This is that.

He who knows the first-born of tn tkt
radiance, born of old of the waters, *****
standing hid in secret, who looked % uab
forth through creatures. This is that.

And the great mother, full of
divinity, who comes forth through
life, standing hid in secret, who was
bom through creatures. This is that.

The fire hidden in the fire sticks —
like a germ, well concealed by the
mothers — that fire is day by day to
be praised by men who wake, with
the oblation. This is that.

Whence the sun rises, and whither
he goes to setting; that all the bright
ones rest on, nor does any go beyond
it. This is that

What is here, that is there; what is
there, that also is here. He goes
from death to death who sees a differ-
ence between them.

This is to be received by the mind,
that there is no difference here. From
death to death he goes, who sees a
difference.

The spirit of the measure of a finger
stands in the midst, in the Self; lord
of what has been, and what shall be.
Thereafter one is no longer seeking
for refuge. This is that.

In the The spirit of the measure of a finger
Houu is like a light without smoke; lord of

Dettb wnat nas ^ >een an( ^ wnat snaU **' *** c
same to-day and to-morrow. This is

that.

As water rained on broken ground
runs away among the mountains; so
he who beholds separate natures runs
hither and thither after them.

As pure water poured in pure
remains the same, so is the Self of
the discerning sage, O descendant of
Gotama.

Understanding the eleven-doored
dwelling of the unborn seer of truth,
he grieves not; and, freed, he is set
free. This is that.

This is the Swan in the pure world,
the radiant in the middle world, the
fire here on the altar; as a guest in a
dwelling.

This is the essence of man, the
essence of the best, the essence of
the deep and the ether; those born
of the water, of earth, of the deep, of
the mountains, are that true great one.

He leads upward the forward-life,
and casts back the downward-life
All the bright powers bow to the
dwarf seated in their midst.

When this lord of the body, stand- '« '**
ing within the body, departs; when he Houu
goes forth free from the body, what is < Q 4stb
left? This is that.

No mortal lives by the forward-life,
nor by the downward-life. But by
another they live, in whom these two
rest.

This secret immemorial Eternal, I
shall declare to thee; and how the
Self is, on attaining death, O descend-
ant of Gotama. ^l

Some come to the womb, for the
embodying of that lord of the body.
Others reach the resting-place, accord-
ing to deeds, according to what they
have understood.

The spirit that wakes in those that
dream, moulding desire after desire,
is that bright one, that Eternal ; that
they call the immortal one. In this
all the worlds rest, nor does any go
beyond it. This is that.

As fire, being one, on entering the
world, is assimilated to form after
form ; so the inner Self of all being is
assimilated to form after form, and
yet remains outside them.

As the air, being one, on entering
the world, is assimilated to form after

In tb* form; so the inner Self of all being is
Horn* assimilated to form after form, and
2^^ yet remains outside them.

As the sun, the eye of all the world,
is not smeared by visible outer stains;
so the inner Self of all being is not
smirched by sorrow of the world, but
remains outside it.

The one ruler, the inner Self of all
being, who makes one form manifold;
the wise who behold him within
themselves, theirs is happiness, and
not others'.

The durable among undurables ;
the soul of souls, who though one,
disposes the desires of many; the
wise who behold him within them-
selves, theirs is peace everlasting, and
not others'.

This is that, they think, the ineffable
supreme joy. How then may I know,
whether this shines or borrows its
light? No sun shines there, nor the
moon and stars; nor lightnings, nor
fire like this. All verily shines after
that shining. From the shining of
that, all this borrows light.

Rooted above, with branches below,

is this immemorial Tree. It is that '* tbe
bright one, that Eternal; it is called ***"*
the immortal. In it all the worlds % tMtb
rest; nor does any go beyond it.
This is that.

All that the universe is, moves in
life, emanated from it. It is the great
fear, the upraised thunderbolt They
who have seen it, become immortal.

Through fear of this, Fire glows;
through fear of this, the Sun glows;
through fear of it, the King and
Breath ; and Death runs, as fifth.

If one has been able to understand
it here, before the body's falling
away, he builds for embodiment in
the creative worlds.

As in a mirror, this is seen in the
Self; as in a dream, it is seen in the
world; as in*the waters around, it is
seen in the world of sylphs; as in the
fire and the shadow, it is seen in the
world of the Evolver.

Considering the life of the powers
as apart, and their rising and setting
as they grow up apart, the wise man
grieves not.

Mind is higher than the powers,
the real is higher than mind; than
this real, the great Self is higher;

S* *** and than the great, the unmanifest is

""* higher.

Dtmtk Than the unmanifest, spirit is
higher, the universal and formless;
knowing which a being is released,
and goes to immortality.

The form of this does not stand
visible, nor does anyone "behold it
with the eye. • By the heart, the soul,
the mind, it is grasped; and those
who know it become immortal.

When the five perceptions and
mind are steadied; and when the
soul struggles not, this, they say, is
the highest way.

This they think to be union, the
firm holding of the powers. Unper-
turbed is this union, though there be
ebb and flow.

Nor by speech, nor by mind can it
be gained; nor by sight. It is gained
by him who can affirm M It is " ; how
else could it be gained ?

It is to be gained by affirming M It
is "; and as. the real in what is and is
not In him who obtains it by affirm-
ing "It is" its reality is perfected.

-When all desires that dwell in his
heart are let go, the mortal becomes
immortal, and reaches the Eternal.

When all the knots of his heart *****
are untied here, the mortal becomes ^j"* 4
immortal. So far is the teaching. Dtmtb

A hundred and one are the heart's
channels ; of these one passes to the
crown. Going up by this, he comes
to the immortal. The others lead
hither and thither.

The spirit of the measure of a
finger, the inner Self, ever dwells in
the hearts of men. Let him draw
forth this spirit from his body, firmly,
like the pith from a reed.

Let him know that this is the bright
one, the immortal. Let him know
it is the bright one, the immortal.

Nachiketas thus having received
the knowledge declared by Death,
and the whole law of union, became a
passionless dweller in the Eternal,
and deathless; and so may another
who thus knows the union with the
Self.

A VEDIC MASTER

[hess men, Sukeshan Bhar-
adv&ja, and Shaivya Saty-
ak&ma, and Sauryayanin
3argya, and Kaushalya Ashvalayana,
ind Bhargava Vaidarbhi, and Kaband-
nn Katyayana, full of the Eternal,
inn in the Eternal, were seeking after
the supreme Eternal.

They came to the Master Pippalada,
irith fuel in their hands, saying: He
verily will declare it all.

And the Sage said to them : Remain
yet a year in fervour, service of the
Eternal, and faith. Ask whatever
questions you wilt, if we know them,
we shall declare all to you.

So Kabandhin Katyayana, ap-
proaching, asked: Master, where are
ill these beings brought forth from ?

He answered him: The Lord of
teings desired beings. He brooded
with fervour; and, brooding with
fervour, he forms a Pair. They are
the Substance and the Life. These
two will make beings manifold for
ne, said he. The sun verily is the

Master

A life, and Substance is the moon
^Jffk For Substance is all that is formed,
and the formless is the Life, There
fore the form is the Substance.

So the sun, rising, enters the east
era space ; and thus he gathers all the
eastern lives among his rays. As the
southern, the western, the northern,
the nether, and the upper space, and
the spaces between, as he illumines
all, so he gathers all lives among his
rays. Thus the life rises as universal,
all-formed fire.

And this is declared by the Vedic
verse :

The all-formed, golden IUuminer,
the supreme way, the light, the
fervent one. Thousand-rayed,
turning in a hundred ways, the
Life of beings, this sun rises.

The year is a Lord of beings. His
two paths are the southern and the
northern. Therefore they who wor-
ship, thinking that it is fulfilled by
sacrifice and gifts, win the lunar world.
They verily return again. Therefore
these sages who desire beings, turn to
the south. For this is the path of |
Substance, the path of the fathers.

But they who by the northern way A
seek the Self by fervour, service of ' Ved '*
the Eternal, faith and knowledge, they
verily win the sun. This is the home
of lives ; this is the immortal, fearless,
supreme way. From it they do not
return again; for this is the end.

And there is this verse :

They call the sun the father in the
upper half of heaven, with five
steps — seasons — and twelve forms
— months — the giver of increase.

But others call him the Seer who
rests in the seven-wheeled chariot,
of six spokes.

The month is a Lord of beings.
The dark half is the Substance; the
bright half is the Life. Therefore
these Sages offer sacrifice in the
bright half; but the others in the
other half.

Day-and-night is a Lord of beings.
Day verily is the Life, and night is
the Substance. They waste their life
who find love in the outward; but
service of the Eternal finds love in
the hidden.

Food also is a Lord of beings.
Thence comes this seed, and thence
these beings are brought forth. And

A all that follow this vow of the Lord
7?™ of beings, produce a pair.

Theirs verily is that world of the
Eternal, who have fervour and service
, of the Eternal, and in whom truth is
set firm. Theirs is that quiet world
of the Eternal; but not theirs, in
whom are crookedness, untruth,
illusion.

And so Bh&rgava V&idarbhi asked
him: Master, how many are the
bright ones that uphold being?
Which illumine this? Which of
them again is chief est ?

He answered him : • Shining ether
is that bright one, air, and fire, and
water, and earth; voice, mind, sight,
hearing. They, illumining, declare:
We uphold this ray, establishing it.

And Life, the chiefest among them,
said: Cherish not this delusion: for
I, verily, dividing myself fivefold,
uphold this ray, establishing it.

They were incredulous. Life proud-
ly made as if to go out above. And as
Life goes out, all the others go out,
and as Life returns, all the others
return. As the bees all go out after
the honey-makers' king when he goes

out, and return when he returns, thus A
did yoke, mind, sight, and hearing. ^^
Joyful, they sing the praise of life.
% He warms as fire; as son, and the
rain-god; the thunderer, wind,
and the earth, substance, the
bright one; what is, what is not,
and what is immortal

Like spokes in a wheel's nave, all
this rests in Life. Songs, and
liturgies, and chants; sacrifice
and warrior and priest.

Thou, life, as Lord of beings,
mo vest in the germ; and thou
thyself art born from it And to
thee, Life, these beings bring the
offering; thou who art set firm
through the lives.

Thou art the tongued flame of the
bright ones; the first oblation of
the fathers. Thou art the law of
the sages; the truth of sacrificial
priests.

Thou art the thunderer, Life, with
his brightness; thou art the
storm-god, the preserver. Thou
movest in the mid space as the
sun; thou art master of the stars.

When thou descendest as rain,
these thy children, Life, stand

A rejoicing; we shall have food,

*™k they say, according to our desire.

k Thou art the exile, Life, the lonely

seer; the eater, the good master

of all. We are givers of the first

offering. Thou art father to us,

the great Breath.

Thy form that is manifested in

voice, and in hearing, and in

sight, and the form that expands

in mind, make it auspicious!

Go not out 1

All this is in Life's sway, all that is

set firm in the triple heaven.

Guard us as a mother her sons;

and as Fortune, give us wisdom!

And so K&ushalya Ashval&yana
asked him : Master, where is this Life
born from? How does it enter this
body? How does it come forth,
dividing itself? Through what does
it go out ? How does it envelop the
outer? and how as to union with the
Self?

He answered him : Many questions
thou askest! Thou art full of the
Eternal, and therefore I tell it to the*.

From the Self is this Life born.
And as the shadow beside a man,

this is expanded in that. By mind's A
action it enters this body. And as a Vedic

Mitttr

sovereign commands his lords: These
villages and these villages shall ye
rule over! Thus also Life disposes
the lesser lives. For the lower
powers, the downward-life; in sight
and hearing, in mouth and nose, the
forward-life; and in the midst, the
binding-life; this binds together the
food that is offered; and thence the
seven flames arise.

In the heart is the Self. Here are
a hundred and one channels. From
them a hundred each, and in each of
these, two and seventy thousand
branch-channels. In these the dis-
tributing-life moves.

And by one, the upward, rises the
upward-life. It leads by holiness to a
holy world, by sin to a sinful world,
by both, to the world of men.

The outward-life rises as the sun.
It is linked with this life that dwells
in seeing. And the potency that is in
earth, entering the downward-life of
man, establishes it. And the shining
ether is for the binding-life, and air
for the distributing-life.

And radiance for the upward-life.

A Therefore he whose radiance has
y' edtc become quiescent is' reborn through
the impulses dwelling in mind
According to his thoughts, he enters
life. And Life joined by the radiance
with the Self leads him to a world
according to his will.

He who, thus knowing, knows Life,
his being fails not, and he becomes
immortal.
And there is this verse:
Knowing the source, the range,
the abode, the lordship of Life
fivefold, and its union with the
Self, he reaches immortality, he
reaches immortality.

And so S&ury&yanin Gargya asked
him : Master, how many powers sleep
in the man? How many wake in
him? Who is the bright one that
sees dreams? Whose is that bliss?
and in whom are all these set firm ?

He answered him : As, G&rgya, the
rays of the sun, at setting, all become
one in his shining orb ; and when he
rises, they all come forth again ; so all
becomes one in the higher bright one,
mind.

Therefore the man hears not, not A
sees nor smells, nor tastes, nor ^^
touches, nor speaks, nor takes, nor
enjoys, nor puts forth, nor moves.
He sleeps, they say.

The life-fires verily wake in this
dwelling. The household fire is the
downward-life. The fire of oblations
is the distributing-life. And as the
fire of offerings is brought forward
from the household fire, it is the
forward-life.

And the binding-life is what binds
together the offerings, the outbreath-
ing and inbreathing. Mind is the
sacrificer, and the upward-life is the
fruit of the sacrifice. For it brings the
sacrificer day by day to the Eternal.

So this bright one in dream enjoys
greatness. The seen, as seen he
beholds again. What was heard, as
heard he hears again. And what was
enjoyed by the other powers, he
enjoys again by the other powers.
The seen and the unseen, heard and
unheard, enjoyed and unenjoyed, real
and unreal, he sees it all; as All he
sees it.

And when he is wrapt by the
radiance, the bright one no longer

A sees dreams. Then within him that
v ^ dk bliss arises. And, dear, as the birds
come to the tree to rest, so all this
comes to rest in the higher Self.

Earth and earth-forms; water and
water-forms; light and light-forms;
air and air-forms; ether and ether-
forms; seeing and seen; hearing and
heard; smelling and smelled; taste
and tasted; touch and touched; yoke
and spoken; hands and handled;
feet and moving; mind and minding;
knowledge and knowing; personality
and personal ; imagination and imagin-
ing; radiance and enlightening; life
and living.

For this Self is the seer, toucher,
hearer, smeller, taster, thinker, knower,
doer, the perceiving spirit And this
is set firm in the supreme, unchanging
Self.

He reaches the supreme unchanging
who knows that shadowless, bodiless,
colourless, bright unchanging one.
He, dear, becomes all-knowing, be-
comes the All.

And there is this verse :

He who knows the unchanging one
where are set firm the perceiving
self, with all the powers, all lives

and beings; he, verily, all-know- A
ing, has entered the All.

VUU

MmsUt

And so Sh&vya Satyak&ma asked
him: And he amongst men, Master,
who to the end of his life meditates
on the mystic Om; what world will
he gain by it ?

And he answered him : This mystic
Om, Satyak&ma, is for the higher and
lower Eternal. Therefore the wise
man, by dwelling on this, reaches one
of these: if he meditates on the first
measure, enlightened by it he is
quickly reborn in the world. The
songs bring him to the world of men ;
there, full of fervour, service of the
Eternal, and faith, he enjoys greatness.

And if he dwells on it in his mind
with two measures, he is led to the
middle world by the liturgies. He
wins the lunar world, and after enjoy-
ing brightness in the lunar world, he
returns again.

And he who with three measures
meditates on the mystic Om, and
thereby meditates on the supreme
spirit, is endowed with radiance, with
the sun ; as a serpent is freed from its
slough, he is, verily, freed from sin.

A He is led by the chants to the world
^ of the Eternal. He beholds the
indwelling spirit above the highest
assemblage of lives.
And there are these two verses :
The three measures are subject to
death when divided; they are
joined to each other, but not
inseparable. When the outer,
the middle, and the midmost
forms are joined together, the
knower is not shaken.
By the songs to this world ; by the
liturgies to the middle world; by
the chants to the world the seers
tell of; by meditating on the
mystic Oni, the wise man reaches
that peace, unfading, immortal,
fearless, supreme.

And so Sukeshan Bharadvfija
asked him: Master, the R&japutra,
Hiranyan&bha K&usalya, coming to
me, asked this question : Bh&radv&ja,
knowest thou the spirit with sixteen
parts? I answered the youth : I know
him not ; if I knew him, how should
I not tell thee? He withers, toot
and all, who speaks untruth ; therefore
I deign not to speak untruth. He,

silently, entering his chariot, departed. *
I ask thee where this spirit is.

He answered him: Here, verily,
within the body, dear, is that spirit in
which the sixteen parts come forth.

He said : In whose going out shall
I go out? In whose resting shall I
rest firm? He put forth life; and,
from Life, faith, the shining ether, air,
light, the waters, and the power of
earth. Then mind and food, and,
from food, force and fervour, the
hymns, the words of action, and name
in the worlds.

And as these rivers, rolling ocean-
wards, go to their setting on reaching
the ocean, and their name and form
are lost in the ocean, they say. So
the sixteen parts of this seer, moving
spiritwards, on reaching spirit, go to
their setting; their name and form are
lost in spirit, they say. He becomes
one, without parts, and immortal.

And there is this verse :

In whom the parts are fixed like
the spokes in the nave of a
wheel; knowing that knowable
spirit, let not death disturb you.

He said to them: So far I know
41

vau

A that supreme Eternal. There b
^ nothing beyond.

Thou art our father, inasmuch as
thou hast made us cross over to the
further shore of 'unwisdom, said they,
honouring him.

Ill

THAT THOU ART

(hers lived once Shvetaketu,
Aruna's grandson ; his fath-
er addressed him, saying:

Shvetaketu, go, learn the service of
the Eternal ; for no one, dear, of our
family is an unlearned nominal wor-
shipper.

So going when he was twelve years
old, he returned when he was twenty-
four; he had learned all the teachings,
hut was conceited, vain of his learning,
and proud.

His father addressed him :

Shvetaketu, you are conceited, vain
of your learning, and proud, dear;
hot have you asked for that teaching
through which the unheard is heard,
the unthought is thought, the un-
known is known ?

What sort of teaching is that,
Master? said he.

Just as, dear, by a single piece of
day anything made of clay may be
mown, for the difference is only one
tf words and names, and the real

T*«* thing is that it is of day; or just as,
***" dear, by one jewel of gold, anything
made of gold may be known, for the
difference is only one of words and
names, and the real is that it is gold;
or just as, dear, by a single knife-
blade, anything made of iron may be
known, for the difference is only one
of words and names, and the real is
that it is iron; just like this is the
teaching that makes the unknown
known.

But I am sure that those teachers
did not know this themselves; for if
they had known it, how would they
not have taught it to me? said he;
but now let my Master tell it to me.
Let it be so, dear; said he.

In the beginning, dear, there was
Being, alone and secondless. But
there are Some who say that there
was non-Being in the beginning, alone
and secondless ; so that Being would
be born from non-Being; but how
could this be so, dear? said he; how
could Being be born from non-Being?
So there was Being, dear, in the
beginning, alone and secondless.

Then Being beholding said: Let That
me become great ; let me give birth. T *°*

Then it put forth Radiance. H

Then Radiance beholding said : Let
me become great; let me give birth.

Then it put forth the Waters. Just
as a man is hot and sweats, so from
radiance the waters are born.

Then the Waters beholding said:
Let us become great; let us give
birth.

They put forth the world-food.
Just as when it rains much food is
produced, so from the Waters the
world-food — Earth — is born.

Of all these, of beings, there are
three germs : what is born of the Egg,
what is born of Life, what is born of
Division.

That power — Bring — beholding
laid: Let me enter these three
powers — T^adianci, Water s % Earth —
by this life, by my Self, let me give
them manifold forms and names.
Let me make each one of them three-
fold, threefold.

So that power — Bring — entered
those three powers — Radiance, Wa-
ters, Earth — by this life, by the Self,

Tbtt Waters that are drunk are divided

7bom threefold. The grossest part becomes

waste; the middle part becomes

blood ; the lightest part becomes vital

Breath.

Things that produce radiant heat,
when absorbed, are divided threefold.
The grossest part becomes bone;
the middle part becomes nerve;
the lightest part becomes formative
Voice.

For Mind, dear, is formed of the
world-food — Earth; vital Breath is
formed of the Waters; formative
Voice is formed of Radiance.

Let my master teach me further;
said he.

Be it so, dear; said he.

Of churned milk, dear, the lightest
part rises to the top and becomes
butter. Just so of eaten food, dear,
the lightest part rises to the top and
becomes Mind. And so of waters
that are drunk, the lightest part rises
to the top, and becomes vital Breath.
And so when heat-giving things are
eaten, the lightest part rises to the
top, and becomes formative Voice.

For Mind, dear, is formed of Food;

S°

vital Breath is formed of the Waters ; TO"
formative Voice is formed of Radiance. <7 ^ 011

Let my Master teach me further;
said he.

Be it so, dear ; said he.

Man, dear, is made of sixteen parts.
Eat nothing for fifteen days, but drink
as much as you wish ; for vital Breath,
being formed of the Waters, is cut off
if you do not drink.

He ate nothing for fifteen days, and
then returned to the Master, saying:
What shall I repeat, Master?

Repeat the songs and liturgies and
chants, dear; said he.

None of them come back into my
mind, Master ; said he.

He said to him: As, dear, after a
big fire, if a single spark remain, as
big as a fire-fly, it will not burn much ;
just so, dear, of your sixteen parts one
remains, and by this one part you
cannot remember the teachings.

Go, eat; and then you will under-
stand me.

He ate, and then returned to the
Master; and whatever the Master
asked, all came back to his mind.

Tbst The Master said to him: As, dear,
Tbou after a big fire, if even a single spark
remain, as big as a fire-fly, and if it be
fed with straw, it will blaze up and
will then burn much ; just so, dear, of
your sixteen parts, one part was left;
and this, being fed with food, blazed
up, and through it you remembered
the teachings.

For Mind is formed of Food; vital
Breath is formed of the Waters; form-
ative Voice is formed of Radiance.

Thus he learned; thus, verily, he
learned.

Jruna's son Udd&laka ad-
dressed his son Shvetaketu,
saying: Learn from me,
dear, the reality about sleep. When
a man sinks to sleep, as they say,
then, dear, he is wrapped by the Real ;
he has slipped back to his own. And
so they say he sleeps, because he has
slipped back to his own. And just as
an eagle tied by a cord, flying hither
and thither, and finding no other
resting place, comes to rest where he
is tied, so indeed, dear, the man's
Mind flying hither and thither, and

tArt

finding no other resting place, comes TO**
to rest in vital Breath; for Mind, T J^ 1
dear, is bound by vital Breath.

Learn from me, dear, the meaning
of hunger and thirst. When a man
hungers, as they say, the Waters
guide what he eats. And as there are
guides of cows, guides of horses,
guides of men, so they call the
Waters the guides of what is eaten.
Thus you must know, dear, that what
he eats grows and sprouts forth ; and
it cannot grow without a root.

And where can the root of what he
eats be? Where, but in the world-
food— Earth?

And through the world-food —
Earth — that has sprouted forth, you
must seek the root, the Waters.
And through the waters that- have
sprouted forth, you must seek the root,
Radiance. And through Radiance
that has sprouted forth, you must
seek the root, the Real. For all these
beings, dear, are rooted in the Real,
resting in the Real, abiding in the
Real.

And so when the man thirsts, as
they say, the Radiance guides what
he drinks. And as there are guides

Tkat of cows, guides of horses, guides ci
***** men, so, they say, the Radiance guides
the Waters. Thus you must know,
dear, that what he drinks grows and
sprouts forth; and it cannot grow
without a root.

And where can the root of what
he drinks be? Where, but in the
Waters ? And through the Waters
that sprout forth, you must seek their
root, the Radiance. And through the
Radiance, dear, that sprouts forth,
you must seek its root, the Real. For
all these beings, dear, are rooted in
the Real, resting in the Real, abiding
in the Real. And how these three:
the world-food— Earth— the Waters,
Radiance, coming to a man, become
each threefold, threefold, this has
been taught already.

And of a man who goes forth,
formative Voice sinks back into
Mind; Mind sinks back into vital
Breath, vital Breath to Radiance, and
Radiance to the higher Divinity.
This is the soul, the Self of all that
is, this is the Real, this the Self,
That thOu art, O Shvetaketu.

Let the Master teach me more;
said he.

Let it be so, dear; said he. **«*

Tbou

As the honey-makers, dear, gather
the honey from many a tree, and weld
the nectars together in a single nectar;
and as they find no separateness there,
nor say: Of that tree I am the nectar,
of that tree I am the nectar. Thus,
indeed, dear, all these beings, when
they reach the Real, know not, nor
say : We have reached the Real. But
whatever they are here, whether tiger
or lion or wolf or boar or worm or
moth or gnat or fly, that they become
again. And this soul is the Self of all
that is, this is the Real, this the Self.
That thou art, O Shvetaketu.

Let the Master teach me more;
said he.

Let it be so, dear; said he.

These eastern rivers, dear, roll
eastward ; and the western, westward.
From the ocean to the ocean they go,
and in the ocean they are united.
And there they know no separateness,
nor say : This am I, this am I. Thus
indeed, dear, all these beings, coming
forth from the Real, know not, nor
say: We have come from the Real

tArt

T**t And whatever they are here, whether

Thou
tArt

tiger or lion or wolf or boar or 1
or moth or gnat or fly or whatever
they are, that they become again.
And that soul is the Self of all that
is, this is the Real, this the Self.
That thou art, O Shvetaketu.

Let the Master teach me more;
said he.

Let it be so, dear; said he.

If any one strike the root of this
great tree, Hear, it will flow and live,
if any one strike the middle of it, it
will flow and live; if any one strike
the top of it, it will flow and live. So
filled with life, with the Self, drinking
in and rejoicing, it stands firm. But
if the life of it leaves one branch, that
branch dries up; it leaves a second,
that dries up; it leaves a third, that
dries up; it leaves the whole, the
whole dries up. Thus indeed, dear,
you must understand ; said he. When
abandoned by Life, verily, this dies;
but life itself does not die. For that
soul is the Self of all that is, this is
the Real, this the Self. That thou
art, O Shvetaketu.

Sfi

Let the Master teach me more; Tk*t
•aid he. ^

Let it be st dear; said he. ;

•7

Bring me a fruit of that fig-tree. u ' "^

Here is the fruit, Master.

Divide it into two; said he.

I have divided it, Master. ^ ' n

What do you see in it ? said he. ; '

Atom-like seeds, Master.

Divide one of them in two ; said he.

I have divided it, Master.

What do you see in it ? said he.

I see nothing at all, Master.

So he said to him :

That soul that you perceive not at
all, dear, — from that very soul the
great fig-tree comes forth. Believe
then, dear, that this soul is the Self
of all that is, this is the Real, this
the Self. That thou art, O
Shvetaketu*

Let the Master teach me more;
said he.

Let it be so, dear; said he. *

Put this salt in water, and come to
me early in the morning.

And he did so, and the Master said
to him:

That That salt you put in the water last
Tb<m night — bring it to met And looking
for its appearance, he could not see it,
as it was melted in the water.

Taste the top of it; said he. How
is it?

It is salt ; said he.
Taste the middle of it; said he.
How is it ?
It is salt ; said he.
Taste the bottom of it; said he.
How is it ?

It is salt ; said he.
' Take it away, then, and return to

And he did so; but that exists for
ever. And the master said to him :

Just so, dear, you do not see the
Real in the world. Yet it is here all
the same. And this soul is the Self
of all that is, this is the Real, this
the Self. That thou a*t, O
Shvetaketu.

Let the Master teach me more;
said he.

Let it be so, dear; said he.

Just as if they were to blindfold a
man, and lead him far away from
Gandhara, and leave him in the

tArt

wilderness; and as he cried to the That
east and the north and the west : I am T ^
led away blindfolded; I am deserted
blindfolded. And just as if one
came, and loosing the bandage from
his eyes, told him: In that direction
b Gandh&ra; in that direction you

Cost go. And he asking from village
village like a wise man and learned,
ihould come safe to Gandh&ra. Thus,
verily, a man who has found the true
Teacher, knows. He must wait only
till he is free, then he reaches the
resting-place. And that soul is the
Self of all that is, this is the Real,
this the Self. That thou art, O
Sbvetaketu.

Let the Master teach me more;
aid he.

Let it be so, dear; said he.

When a man is near his end, his
Wends gather round him: Do you
mow me, do you know me ? they say.
tad until formative Voice sinks back
Wo Mind, and Mind into Breath, and
heath into the Radiance, and the
ladiance into the higher Divinity, he
till knows them. But when formative
face sinks back into Mind, and Mind

Tfcrf into Breath, and Breath into die
Tbo * Radiance, and the Radiance into the

»Art

higher Divinity, he knows them not
And that soul is the Self of all that is,
this is the Real, this the Self. That
thou art, O Shvetaketu.

Let the Master teach me more;
said he.

Let it be so, dear; said he.

They bind a man and bring him:
He has stolen, they say ; he has com-
mitted theft. Heat the axe for tk
ordeal: and if he is the doer of it,
and makes himself untrue ; maintain-
ing untruth, and wrapping himself ia
untruth, he grasps the heated axe; hi
burns, and so dies. But if he be not
the doer of it, he makes himself truei
maintaining'truth, and wrapping him-
self in truth, he grasps the heated
axe; he burns not, and so goes free-
And the truth that saves him fro*
burning is the Self of all that is, tb*
is the Real, this the Self. That
thou art, O Shvetaketu.

Thus he learned the truth ; thus ^
learned it.

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General Library

University of California

Berkeley

YA 02912

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